New Beginnings
by CowgirlChristian
Summary: Jake, Sam and the rest of the Darton crew, are forced to overcome more than one tragedy that is thrown their way. How will they handle it? Sake


A few things. Just So You Know is mine also, I just used my other account that I made first. This also is mine, all of the characters however are Ms. Terri Farley's. With the exceptions of Lexi, Mariah and Kevin. Those are my babies. I am a rather wordy writer meaning I use more stretched out descriptions than I probably should. I do apologize and I hope to get better about that as I keep writing. I hope you guys enjoy. Review if you like but I won't threaten to not post if you don't. Thanks. Oh and I'm sorry this one is a really short chapter.

Chapter 1

"Beep—Beep—Beep"

Samantha Forster, Sam to all of her friends, well with the exception of Jake who had the annoying habit of calling her "brat", rolled over in her warm bed and hit the snooze button on her alarm clock. Sam lay there for a few minutes after turning her clock off, thinking. It was New Years Day, what a great day for new beginnings in her opinion.

"Oh boy, its Sunday isn't it?" Sam asked her cat Cougar, who was snuggled in the blankets at the foot of her bed.

"Mew", the cat replied.

Sam jumped out of bed and headed for her bathroom, sneaking a glance at her clock on the way, it was 7:04, she had exactly 56 minutes to get ready for church, eat breakfast and pick up her best friend Jennifer Kenworthy before heading into Darton for church services.

Sam's cell phone rang as she was climbing out of the shower, sprinting into her room, a dangerous proposition with wet feet and just a towel on, she picked up the slim Razr and answered it.

"Hello?" she panted.

"Wow, Sam, you sound out of breath, you okay?" her best friend Jen asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, I was just getting out of the shower when you called, it took me a minute to find my cell, sorry bout that."

"It's okay, hey I was wondering if I left my Bible at your house last night after youth group? I can't find it here."

"Yeah I have it here, you left it on the table, I think when Kevin started talking to you,

you sort of zoned out."

"Oh okay, sorry about that, could you bring it when you come pick me up, its kind of an important thing to have at church and all."

"Yeah I'll bring it, hey I have to run, I need to finish getting dressed and grab a bite before I can come pick you up. See you in a few."

"Okay, bye."

Putting her cell phone back on the nightstand Sam walked over to her closet and grabbed a pretty blue and green plaid long-sleeved shirt with pearly snaps, and tossed it onto her bed, then she went to her drawer and got out a bra, underwear, socks and a clean pair of Wranglers.

Once she was dressed she quickly brushed her hair out and French braided it. Next she stepped to her closet again and took her lace up Justin boots from the floor, slipped them on and laced them up. After she pulled her jeans over the tops of the boots she grabbed her Nocona belt and put it on, making sure her trophy buckle was lined up with the fly of her jeans. She took one last look in the mirror, then threw her cell in her brown leather purse, grabbed she and Jen's Bibles off the dresser, snagged her purse and keys and plopped her black Stetson on her head and headed for the stairs.

"Good morning Sam" Gram greeted Sam as she entered the kitchen, "I see you are all ready for church, but do you have time for some breakfast first?"

Sneaking a look at the clock on the microwave reading 7:31, she decided that she would have a waffle and apple juice before she left, "Sure Gram, I can eat first."

Sam set down the stuff she was carrying on the counter next to the back door, and hung her hat on the hat rack over the counter. Crossing the kitchen she opened the cupboard over the coffeepot and grabbed a plate and glass. She set the glass on the counter, then took her plate to the stove and grabbed one of the whole wheat waffles off the plate full of them on the back of the stove keeping warm. Next she added some of the scrambled eggs with ham in them from the skillet and taking a fork and syrup from the cabinet she headed for the table.

"So are you taking Jennifer with you?" Gram asked as she poured some apple juice into the glass Sam had set on the counter and handed it to her granddaughter.

Holding her finger up in a 'just a second' gesture, Sam finished chewing the bite of waffle, and answered Gram, "Yeah I am, I'm picking her up at 8:00. Thanks for letting me have that youth group party here last night, Gram. You were in bed by the time we got done and I didn't want to bother you. Hey where are Brynna and Dad, still in bed, or did they already leave to take B to the airport?"

"They already left, Brynna has to keynote tomorrow at her BLM conference in  
Reno and she wanted to get there early and unpack and visit a couple of her friends before she has to start going to all of those meetings. Wyatt should be back by 9:30, and he said to tell you that he stuck a twenty in your purse last night, for you and Jen to have lunch at Clara's before you two head home."

"Oh, cool. I need to remember to thank him when I see him later." Sam said as she finished her waffle and eggs and stood to take her plate to the sink and wash it before leaving. "Hey thanks for breakfast Gram, I need to leave but tell Cody that Sammy gave him her love and that I will see him when I get home from church. Bye."

"Bye dear," Gram said as Sam grabbed her purse, the Bibles and her warm Carhartt jacket and Stetson and left the cozy kitchen.

Once outside Sam headed for her 2006 Silverado parked in the yard. She deposited her stuff in the seat and turned to scratch Blaze's head, before getting in the truck. She slid in, slammed the door and stuck the key in the ignition, starting the pickup and putting it in gear. She backed out from between Gram's Buick and her step mom's white Ford F-250 with the BLM logo on the side of the door. Turning and putting her truck in drive, she turned on the radio and tuned it to her favorite country channel, KHTY from Darton. She rattled over the bridge, then slowed, looked both ways and turned onto the highway, heading in the direction of Gold Dust Ranch to pick up Jen.

Ten minutes later she turned into the driveway, drove under the gaudy arch and took a left towards the Kenworthy family's log cabin. Jumping from the truck she ran toward the door and just as she lifted her hand to knock Jen opened it and Sam hit her square on the forehead.

"Ouch Sam what the heck was that for?" Jen grumbled.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay Jen? I completely didn't mean to do that, it was an accident." Sam offered as she looked at her friend.

"Yeah I'm fine. Bye Mom, bye Dad," she threw over her shoulder as she shut the door and headed towards Sam's truck.

Once they were in Sam's truck and on the highway heading into Darton, Jen turned to Sam with a jubilant look on her face, "So guess what?"

"Uhh, I'm not sure, let me see. Oh, Rachel asked you to be her bestest friend forever and ever? No, wait, Jake asked you to marry him?" Sam surmised.

Punching Sam in the upper arm, Jen giggled and said "No, last night before he dropped me off from youth group Kevin asked me to be his girlfriend."

"Oh my gosh, sweetie, that is great, I am so happy for you." Sam said, just then she drove passed the Three Ponies Ranch driveway and gave a wistful look at the arena; Jake was riding a blue roan horse in the large arena.

Jen didn't miss the look that flashed across Sam's face in the blink of an eye, "Hey Sam, you know this will all work out okay. He just needs some time to let everything settle down again. His life really got thrown upside down after Kit died. I think he really likes you; but he just doesn't know how to show it besides being overprotective."

Jake Ely's older brother Kit had been killed in a freak accident three weeks before. He had been driving from Reno to Sparks when an elderly driver lost control of the wheel and slammed into Kit's truck, he had been shoved from the road, down an embankment and his truck came to rest upside down. Unfortunately Kit had not been wearing his seat belt because it aggravated his strained shoulder, when the car had flipped he had been thrown from the car and it had landed on top of him.

"Yeah, I know you're right. I just wish that he knew that I care, and that I want to help him with all of this, but he just pulls that dumb block-everything-and-everyone-out routine." Sam muttered, looking in the rear view mirror for one last look at the Ely's ranch.

The two girls started talking about Kevin O'Reilly, the cute bulldogger that had asked Jen out the evening before. Before they knew it they had arrived at the small log building on the outskirts of Darton that currently housed Cowboys for Christ Christian Fellowship Church. Sam took one last look in her rear view mirror and put on some lip balm. Then she and Jen got their Bible's and purses and headed inside.

As soon as they entered the building Lexi Thomas and Mariah Gonzalez walked over to them as Jen and Sam took their coats and hats off and hung them on the coat rack next to the door.

"OMG, Jen did Kevin ask you out last night? Levi told my brother that Kevin told him that he was going to ask you out. What did you tell him? Are you going to go to the Valentines Day dance with him? What did he say?" Mariah asked without a break to breathe.

"Yeah he asked me out. Your brother was right. I told him yes. I will if he asks me to go with him. He just parked by the river and turned and looked at me and asked if I wanted to be his girlfriend." Jen answered Mariah's questions in order with a good-natured chuckle.

Sam was watching the door with an odd feeling that Jake was going to show up. _C'mon Sam, that's stupid, he isn't going to come here, he's only been here a couple of times, besides you saw him in the arena on Keri, Sam thought. _ Shaking her shoulders as if to rid herself of the odd feeling, Sam turned around and started talking to her friends. Lexi, as quiet as she was, was trying to convince Jen to bring Kevin to the next 4-H meeting at her house. Lexi was the president of Darton County 4-H Council and showed steers and lambs at the 4-H Fair held every July at the Darton County Fairgrounds. Currently Jen was the Secretary and Treasurer, a perfect job for the organized girl.

Sam felt a gust of cold air blow across her neck as someone opened the door, turning to see who it was Sam gave an startled gasp…


End file.
